Law assignment - Judges
...ay include mentally ill people. Police officers, members of the armed forces and traffic wardens are excluded as they may be seen to be bias. If you are a relative of someone on the bench then you are also excluded as again you may be bias and agree with them. If you are found to be undischarged bankrupt then exclusion is also necessary as you have debts, which you could abuse your position to pay off. Finally anyone whose work is considered incompatible with the duties of a magistrate cannot be selected. The Advisory Committee interviews candidates, they then make a recommendation to the Lord Chancellor, who will probably take this. Magistrates are not expected to be experts on the law, so they are trained to fulfil their role. Training for magistrates has changed somewhat over the last 6 years thanks to Lord Irvine and his “Job description”. In 1998 the “Lay Magistrates New Training Initiative” started. With this scheme magistrates are expected to achieve 4 competencies. These are: · An applied understanding of the framework within which magistrates operate. · An ability to follow basic law and procedure. · An ability to think and act judicially. · An ability to work as an effective member of a team. The first of the competencies is known as framework and usually this is covered before the magistrate’s even starts sitting in court. It is done by them studying cases in court and attending the appropriate training sessions. The other 3 competencies are then learnt during their work, and then they are monitored eight to eleven times in the first 2 years on the bench. During these they must attend at the very least 7 training sessions, where they will gain knowledge and experience. When the 2 years are up they will be checked if they have acquired all the competencies, if not then they will be eligible for extra training until they have all the competencies. If they find they are still having problems acquiring them then they will be referred to the Local Advisory Committee who can then recommend to the Lord Chancellor that the Magistrate be removed. The role of a lay magistrate is a very wide area for instance they can deal with family issues such as welfare, care, protection and custody of children and young people up to 18 years of age. Here they are fully involved in the decisions take by the court. They can here both public and private law cases. Public law cases place a child under the care of supervision of a public body, such as Education & Library Boards or Health & Social Services. Private law cases are brought when families dispute parental responsibilties, for instance residence or contact. Also their role can make them a part in youth court, assessors in the county court, emergency protection orders, special courts and signing summons/warrants. This means that they have an important rols to play in the justice system. b) Lay magistrates have many advantages and disadvantages the main advantage, which to me is what keeps them in a job, is the fact that they are so cheap to run. This is shown by in 1998 it cost £200,000,000 to run but brought in £270,000,000, this was through fines and fixed penalties. As magistrates are paid only expenses and lose of earnings, this allows huge amounts can then be made. Another advantage would be that the magistrates have local knowledge as they have to live within a certain distance of the court they sit within. But it has been brough...